During portions of an interview with “PBS NewsHour” aired on Thursday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) stated that Russian oil that has been refined in another country has made its way to the U.S. through a loophole in the U.S. embargo and we have to do more to close it and get other countries to cooperate with efforts to prevent Russia from getting oil revenue.
Doggett said, “We never anticipated this type of circumvention.” And “We’re simply saying, don’t accept refined products here in the United States from oil that is Russian that has been refined in a third country. America led on this last year, and we need to lead on it again and try to close these loopholes and deny Russians any dollars that could go out there and be used for more attacks on Ukraine.”
He also stated, “I believe that we do need to do more. We need to be looking at all countries that are not participating in the price caps and are doing other things to assist the Russians on oil.” And “The modest action that I propose in this legislation I think can be done without unsettling our relationship with India. Going much further with full secondary sanctions could present a problem. And it will take some time and some diplomacy to hopefully get more cooperation from the Indians.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
